The Rock

There was a large rock in the middle of a lake. You could see it as you walked down the long straight hill to the house. Out on the rock was a group of boys. They had either taken the paddle boat and tied it to the rock or they had swam out to it from the dock. Two girls stood on the lawn watching the boys swim. They were not old enough to go climbing on the rock. They would have to go play in the woods surrounding the house instead. They will play with the youngest child, a boy two years their junior, who is also confined to the house. They create elaborate stories and act them out, running through the woods, pretending sticks are guns and tree stumps into dinner. They don't need to be out on the rock in the middle of the lake with the older boys, they are content with the wonders of their own imaginations.

Eventually these kids grow up. The older kids who were playing on the rock no longer visit. And the kids playing in the woods lose their imaginations. They no longer find the same excitement from running around with a wild story running through their minds. Its their turn to swim out to the rock and jump off into the lake. One side of the rock is a steep slide down into the water. The other, a surface full of places to jump off of into the water. The two girls and the boy spend hours jumping off of this rock, enjoying the sun like only a child can. It feels warm and nice out in the middle of the lake on top of the rock. It's not cold and shaded like the woods. Their skin gets brown without them taking notice. They take care to jump far enough from the rock, making sure not to hit the inevitably larger part of the rock that lies beneath the surface. They spend hours giggling and talking, and moments of silence as they simply take in what they're doing. One of them ventures up to the top of the rock. Slips and catches the top, her body splayed on the flat side - the side none of them wanted to be on. She pulled herself up, knees bloody. Her sister and the boy, their cousin, look at her. They were afraid something like that would happen. Their sweet moment on the rock is shattered as they must go back to the house and clean up the cuts. They'll go back out another day, sure to stay away from the edge.

Time stops for no one and the kids grew up. They stopped going out on the rock. They turned into teenagers and young adults. They stopped going to the house on the lake with the rock in the middle. And just as they stopped running through the woods with wild imaginations and jumping off the rock in the sweet summer sun, they also stopped talking. They grew apart. Loved ones died. And there were real life ledges to balance on, constantly hoping that they wouldn't slip and fall.